Posts filed under 'Mostly True'
Here are some weird news shorts:
-Police in Arkansas say they found DNA evidence on a half-eaten candy bar helped them zero in on a robbery suspect. Should have eaten the whole thing, eh?
-A group of up hundreds of enraged young men killed 11 people who were accused of being witches and wizards in western Kenya, in some cases slitting their throats or clubbing them to death before burning their bodies. I guess they have never seen an of the Harry Potter movies.
-In yummy news, a trailer loaded with 14 tons of double-stuffed Oreos has overturned, spilling the cookies still in their plastic sleeves into the median and roadway.
-Only in the Big Apple, a Manhattan restaurant is offering a hamburger that costs $175 and is topped with gold flakes.
May 25th, 2008
A Detroit-based construction consortium hopes to use empty shipping containers to build a $1.8 million, 17-unit condominium project. The Detroit Free Press reports today that the project would stack empty containers four high, cut in windows and doors, install plumbing, stairways and heating, and add amenities such as balconies and landscaped patios.
Groundbreaking could take place this fall on the project if it wins city approval, and it could open in 2009. It’s designed by Detroit-based architect Steven Flum. Developers plan to offer condominium units measuring 90 to 180 square metres.
Prices will range from about $100,000 to about $190,000. I guess it is an interesting idea for afforable housing but those prices seem more than a little extreme. I would think $30k-$40k per dwelling is more reasonable.
May 13th, 2008
A Japanese pin-up model says that her big breasts have not only boosted her career — they also helped her overturn a court verdict. The bikini model, who goes by her professional name Serena Kozakura, was cleared after a court decided she was too well-endowed to squeeze into a room through a hole, as she had been found guilty of earlier.
“I used to hate my body so much,” Kozakura, who has appeared in product commercials on television, told the private Asahi network in an interview aired Tuesday. “But it was my breasts” that won in court, she said.
The case was splashed through the Japanese media on Tuesday, with the Asahi network even inviting her to demonstrate how she could not fit through the opening. Kozakura, 38, was convicted last year of property destruction after a man said she kicked in the wooden door of his room and crawled inside, apparently because he was with another woman.
Kozakura had said the man made the hole himself. In her appeal, the defence counsel held up a plate showing the size of the hole and said that she could not squeeze through with her 110-centimetre (44-inch) bust. “The judges were very good-mannered as they showed no expressions on their faces. I guess they’re well-trained,” Kozakura said. Tokyo High Court presiding judge Kunio Harada agreed and threw out the guilty verdict on Monday, saying there was reasonable doubt over the man’s account. Well that was a nice…story.
March 4th, 2008
The case of a chilli dog on display at a local convenience store prompted an outraged woman to take action. Cindy Gravelle says she took a big gulp when she spotted a miserable looking pooch in the walk-in cooler, pressing its face up against the glass door, during a milk-run to her local 7-Eleven earlier this week.
Gravelle was doubly disturbed the next day to find the same dog, which appears to be an American Eskimo, in the cooler apparently for safekeeping while its owner worked a shift at the store near Centre St. and McKnight Blvd. N.E.
“Eight hours later it was still in the fridge,” the horrified 41-year-old said yesterday.
“What is wrong with these people?”
Gravelle’s dogged pursuit to rectify the situation led Calgary Humane Society officials to contact the store about the strange pet-keeping practice.
7-Eleven spokesman Alyn Edwards said it was “a discretionary decision” based on “unique circumstances” which will not happen again. It appears the dogs owner thought because it was an Eskimo dog it needed to be kept in very cold surroundings.
February 2nd, 2008
An Italian court has ruled that a couple could not name their son “Friday” and ordered that he instead be called Gregory after the saint whose feast day he was born on. “I think it is ridiculous they even opened a case about it,” the family’s lawyer, Paola Rossi, told Reuters by telephone from the northern city of Genoa on Tuesday.
Friday/Gregory Germano was born in Genoa 15 months ago. The parents registered him as Friday in the city hall and a priest even baptised him as Friday — unusual in Italy since many priests insist that first names be of Christian origin. “We named him Friday because we like the sound of the name. Even if it would have been a girl, we would have named her Friday,” the boy’s mother, Mara Germano, told Reuters.
When the boy was about five months old, a city hall clerk brought the odd name to the attention of a tribunal, which informed the couple of an administrative norm which bars parents from giving “ridiculous or shameful” first names to children. The tribunal said it was protecting the child from being the butt of jokes and added that it believed the name would hinder him from developing “serene interpersonal relationships”.
The Germano family appealed but lost their case this month and the story was carried on the front page of a national newspaper on Tuesday. When ordered to change the name, the parents refused and the court ruled the boy would be legally registered as Gregory because he was born on that saint’s feast day.
“I really doubt this would have happened to the child of parents who are rich and famous,” the boy’s mother told Reuters, recalling that some famous Italians had given their children unorthodox names such as “Ocean” or “Chanel”. The appeals court ruled against Friday because it recalled the servile savage in Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe and because superstitious Italians consider Friday an unlucky day.
“I am livid about this,” the boy’s mother said. “A court should not waste its time with things like this when there is so much more to worry about.” “My son was born Friday, baptised Friday, will call himself Friday, we will call him Friday but when he gets older he will have to sign his name Gregory,” she said. I hope he has not siblings named after the other days of the week.
December 23rd, 2007
Japan says, “UFOs do exist”, a top Japanese government spokesman said Tuesday. The comment by chief cabinet secretary Nobutaka Machimura drew laughter from reporters at his regular briefing on government policy.
Machimura, asked about the government’s view on UFOs at a regular press conference, told reporters that the government can only offer a simple response. “Personally, I definitely believe they exist,” he said, apparently tongue in cheek.
But the prime minister stuck to the official view. “I have yet to confirm (that UFOs exist),” Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told reporters later in the day. I guess it is possible but why is there only grainy hard too see photos if they really exist?
December 19th, 2007
Sorta makes me think of Wonder Woman and her magic bracelets but police say a man’s wedding band deflected a bullet and likely saved his life. Police Sgt. Jeffrey Scott says two men walked into Register’s shop at The Antique Market on Saturday and asked to see a coin collection.
When Register retrieved the collection, one of the men pulled a gun and demanded money. A shot was fired as Register threw up his left hand, and his wedding ring deflected the bullet, police said. His wife Darlene Register says the bullet managed to go through two of his fingers without severing the bone.
A part of the bullet broke off and is in his middle finger - the other part is in his neck, lodged in the muscle tissue. She said she gives God all the credit. Police were searching for the robbers, who Scott said “stole a substantial amount of cash.” The whole thing still sounds quite messy.
December 8th, 2007
Rumours of gold lying buried beneath a Malaysian beach have sent scores of villagers digging in the sand in hopes of striking it rich. People have flocked to a beach in the Mersing district of southern Johor state since residents reported finding gold deposits there last week. Police say the prospectors, including housewives and children, are combing the beach with flashlights at night.
District police chief Harun Idris told The Associated Press “people are really excited.” Harun said natural gold deposits have been found in Mersing in recent years.
But another police officer, who didn’t want to be identified, said people were exaggerating the size and value of gold discoveries. He said “it’s gold dust actually,” and not worth the time and trouble to search for. I bet there is gold there and these rumors of dust were just started by some big company that want to get their greedy hands on it.
December 6th, 2007
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